


following a new road

by mieraspeller



Series: Arranged Marriage AU [5]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate universe - canon divergent, F/M, Friendship, Hunting, Mentor/Protégé
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-02
Updated: 2016-05-02
Packaged: 2018-06-05 20:01:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6720988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mieraspeller/pseuds/mieraspeller
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The 100 and the Trikru get to know each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	following a new road

It turns out, marrying into a family isn't much different than being born into one. Mainly because no one in either family is actually obligated to like you. Clan. You get the picture.

"Again!" Indra barks and Octavia grits her teeth and gets back to her feet, trying not to show how much her ribs are killing her. Artigas smirks and twirls his sword lazily - though that makes Indra yell at him as well, which makes Octavia feel slightly better at getting her ass kicked by a snotty twelve year old.

She gets back her feet back into position (her first three painful days of training) and this time, waits for Artigas to come for her.

It doesn't take long - Indra yells at him for his impatience at least four times a day - and he rushes her. She manages to block the first volley of hits, and even dodges the elbow he swings at her. Kicking out at his leg makes Artigas stumble back a step and she presses the advantage for all of a minute before his free hand is grabbing her swinging hair and yanking her off balance. In seconds, his sword is at her throat and she has to drop her own to keep the blade away from her skin. They struggle for a few moments before Octavia sees Indra stride towards them.

"Stop!" Indra pulls Artigas’ sword up and away, then gives Octavia a hard look. "Better. Take care of that before tomorrow and we will see how the fighting goes," she adds, jerking her chin at the fistful of hair Artigas is still gripping. He drops it like it's on fire. Octavia pushes herself to her feet and collects her sword, brushing herself off while Artigas glares at her.

"Onto your other duties," Indra says, and Artigas glares at her one last time before stomping off. 

Indra moves to leave as well, and Octavia quickly sheathes her sword and follows her. "What do I do with it?" She asks, and Indra raises her eyebrow.

“Don’t let it be a weakness in a fight."

Octavia stops, but Indra doesn’t elaborate. She waits for Indra to be out of earshot before heaving a sigh and rubbing at her aching scalp. "Great."

 

 

After allowing herself a short stop to say hello to Clarke and Wells - the first barely looks up from the plants Nyko had spread across the table in the small cabin reserved for healing, and the second busily writing in book that looks similar to Lincoln’s - Octavia goes to find Tris, Anya's second, to get her assignment. Despite the strangeness of getting her marching orders from yet another kid, probably even younger than Artigas, Tris was more concerned with making Anya happy than screwing with the Sky People. 

"What are we doing today?"

"Food," Tris informs her. "We na shoot animal."

"Hunt?" Octavia ventures and Tris lights up nodding eagerly. Octavia can't help but smile back.

"Yeah, hunt. Thank you." It didn't really hurt that she was unfailingly polite and had offered to help her learn trigedasleng in their first conversation.

"Awesome. So, spears?" Tris tosses one over to her and shoulders a bow for herself.

"So, when do I get to learn how to shoot?" Octavia asks - quietly - as they head into the forest. 

"Minas teaches bow. You na practice before using bow to hunt. Arrows take time to make," Tris says, shrugging apologetically. "I think Indra'lll say not til you better at sword."

Octavia sighs and nods and then both girls go quiet as Tris points out a path in the underbrush she says was made by a boar. They follow it until they reach the stream, then search for a good perch. 

Tris points out a tree on the edge of a small clearing near the stream and Octavia gives her a boost up to a sturdy branch. Then she pulls out two strips of cloth and wraps them around her hands while she waits. Tris climbs up carefully until she's satisfied with her vantage before tying a rope around the trunk of the tree and tossing it down to Octavia. It only takes her a minute to get up to the first branch and then between rope and tree she's level with Tris in moments. Tris grins and gives her a thumbs up. 

"Much faster," she mouths. 

Octavia points at the cloth wrapped around her palms in explanation, then pulls the rope up after them.

Then, they wait.

 

 

An hour or so in, and all they've seen is a few Trigeda Octavia hasn’t officially met out yet with Monroe and Miller gathering the last of the fall berries and three rabbits -- fat, but not enough for their part of supper. Tris manages to hit two of them, and Octavia gets to practice her gutting. They toss the offal far off from the river and hang the rabbits from a branch while they wait for something a little more substantial. Octavia’s stomach is growling angrily, and not even the jerky she had stashed in her pouch is quelling her appetite. When the sunlight streaming through the leaves begins to dim, she taps Tris on the arm and gestures at the setting sun. Tris shakes her head and points. A grin spreads over Octavia’s face as she sees the boar nosing through the bushes about ten meters off of Tris’ side of the tree. 

Tris holds her hand out flat, signalling Octavia to wait. She doesn’t even move, for fear of making a noise that will scare the animal off. She feels herself redden a bit at the memory of their last hunting trip, when Octavia had gotten a bit overeager and flushed the deer before it was in bow range. 

The boar circles the clearing, looking for food in the bushes and Tris gestures for her to ready her spear. Octavia tightens her grip on spear and rope, leaning out until she has a clear shot, before throwing the spear. She lets out a quiet cheer when it strikes the boar in the flank, and seconds later hears the _thwip_ of Tris loosing an arrow while the boar is still stunned. 

As soon as the arrow strikes -- left shoulder -- the boar squeals and scrambles around. A second arrow narrowly misses the neck as Octavia is sliding down the rope. She hits the ground softly at the same time Tris’ third arrow sticks in the boar’s chest, slowing it down further. While it circles angrily, Tris throws the rope down to Octavia then jumps down after it, landing in a crouch. 

“You go left. Try not to kill it.” Tris says. Octavia tosses over the end of the rope and then both girls advance, weapons at the ready. 

 

 

Octavia and Tris are both panting with exertion when they get back to camp, dragging the boar behind them. It’s still struggling weakly, which Octavia might feel bad about if it hadn’t almost gouged a hole through her leg. As it is, she’s going to be limping for awhile. 

“Sis em out!” a voice calls from the camp, and within moments the boar is put out of it’s misery and being dragged over to the communal kitchen. 

“Chof,” Tris says as Anya walks towards the girls. “Beda sis em out.”

“Daun ste pleni,” Anya says, and Tris snatches the spear from Octavia with a grin before racing off to her cabin. Octavia holds the rabbits out as well, but Anya holds up a hand and looks at her assessingly. Finally she nods and says, “Good hunting, Octavia. Keep 'em for your meal.”

“Mochof,” Octavia says in surprise, fumbling the word slightly. Anya pats her on the shoulder and walks after Tris. 

 

 

 

“Hunt well?” Lincoln asks when Octavia joins him around the fire after a brief stop to visit Clarke and Nyko to get her leg seen to. She sits gingerly, leg still stinging from the burn of the moonshine and holds out the rabbits. He grins at her and kisses her briefly. 

Someone knocks into his shoulder mid kiss, and Octavia jerks back to see her brother glowering at them. 

“Bellamy?” 

“Came to escort Clarke over to our new home,” he says, settling down next to Lincoln. “We’ve only got one lodge completely finished up, but your grounder here thinks we’ll have enough shelter for all of us before the snow comes.” 

“I can’t wait to see real snow,” Octavia says, then sticks out her tongue at Bellamy when he scoffs at her. “Anything else new?”

“We still haven’t heard anything from the Ark,” he says more seriously. “Just the same noise that Monte found on the black box recording from the crash. Raven thinks it may be interference from old satellite arrays at Mount Weather.” 

“It's purposeful then,” Lincoln says and Bellamy and Octavia both look at him with identical expressions of confusion. “If your interference is from the mountain, it’s no accident. The mountain men are evil. They kidnap our people and torture them, then turn them into Reapers they control. Or feed them to the Reapers. It wouldn't surprise me if they killed your people."

“What?” Octavia breathes, horrified. Bellamy is shaking his head in disbelief, but a strident voice behind them makes all three turn. 

“It's true.” The woman is old -- hardened and brown from the sun, and slightly stooped. She's the oldest person Octavia has ever seen outside of a vid. “I was taken when I was young and foolish. Before then no one knew that men lived in the mountain. They drained the blood from my body over and over. The man in the cage next to me warned me that they killed the fighters first, so I acted more weak than I was, and they threw me out like garbage. I had enough energy to walk, but if there hadn’t been Trigedakru near fighting, I would have been caught again. Only two others ever escaped in the years after I did, and they were both taken again, for using guns. Then the Reapers came, and no one escaped again.” She looks haunted, and everyone around them has gone silent to listen. “That Mountain holds only evil.” 

 

 

“So that was freaky,” Octavia says later, once they’re back with the others back to the newly finished lodge. Bellamy relates the others what the woman told them. 

“So, these Mountain people somehow knew that those two guys used guns and took them again?” Neela asks, frowning into the fire. “Why?” 

“Magda wasn't much older than you when she was taken,” Lincoln says. “We used to use guns and your radios as well, before even my father was born, but after the mountain started taking us, we learned that we were safer without them. The mountain men killed us in the hundreds with their fog and burned down our villages until we gave up using them.” His voice is wooden by the time he finishes his recitation, and Octavia scoots closer to Lincoln and slides an arm around his waist. He smile is slightly strained, but he relaxes against her. 

“Why didn’t your people just move away from the Mountain?” Clarke asked skeptically. 

“Do you think we are the only people on the Earth? The Ice Nation to the north, the boat people to the south, lake people and the plains clans to the west -- where would we go? It is only since Lexa became Commander that we have an Alliance with more than just Luna’s clan.” 

“What’s to the west?” Bellamy asked. 

“A great desert. Nomads live there - people without clans.”

“I’m sorry,” Clarke says - after Monty pokes her side pointedly. “It’s not that we don’t believe you, we were just taught that everyone on Earth died after the war. Being here, and finding so many people living here, it’s taking time to adjust.” 

Lincoln nods in acknowledgement. “Most of us on the ground would be very surprised to learn there were people living among the stars, as well.” 

“Well, it wasn’t really --” 

“We better get some sleep if we’re going to finish up the Mess Hall tomorrow,” Bellamy interrupts, and Octavia grins at him as Clarke’s mouth shuts with a snap on her lecture. 

There is a general din of agreeing noises, and everyone goes off to their own corners to settle in. 

“Back to the cave?” Octavia asks, standing and holding a hand out to Lincoln. He takes it. 

“Sure you don’t want to stay?” Bellamy asks, jaw clenching. 

“Nope! See you bright and early to pick up the new victims!” she says, before pulling Lincoln outside. She feels Bellamy’s eyes on her until they are back in the trees. There, Lincoln takes the lead, and they’re both quiet until they reach the cave. 

Once the fire is started up and Octavia gets out of her heavy armor and under the pile of furs, she turns on her side and watches as he readies himself to sleep.

“So, how’s working with my brother been?” Octavia asks. 

Lincoln pauses, then says, slowly, “He has been… slow to accept us.” 

She frowns and starts to sit up. ”Us meaning the Trigedakru?”

“Us meaning you and I,” he clarifies quickly. “Rigen and the rest, he's fine with.” 

“Hmph,” Octavia huffs, laying back down. “I’ll have to yell at him again.” 

Lincoln slides into the bed next to her and she rolls over into his warmth, smiling when his arms go around her automatically.

“If you want to yell at him, of course, but I don’t know that it’ll help the situation.” 

Octavia huffs another sigh into Lincoln’s chest. Then she looks up at him and smirks. “Fine, I’ll just work on getting him a girlfriend so he’s too busy to worry about me.” That makes Lincoln laugh and Octavia smiles in satisfaction, before letting out a jaw cracking yawn. 

“Sleep. We’ll have time for other things in the morning,” Lincoln says when Octavia makes a noise of protest, then yawns again.

“Okay," she agrees, "but you better not take off without waking me up again. I need your help with something."


End file.
